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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647833">The last song of Lyrebird cave</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rescue9/pseuds/Rescue9'>Rescue9</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Horror, Mystery, TW: Blood, TW: Swearing, tw: claustrophobia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:53:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,119</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647833</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rescue9/pseuds/Rescue9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Five intrepid young men make the journey to lyrebird cave, a deep chasm in the heart of southern Indiana. But when one of them falls into the depths of the chasm, will the others be able to find him? Or will they discover that the cave is far more than what it seems.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lyrebird cave was never a crowded spot. </p><p>Among the massive chasms and illuminated pathways of the nearby mammoth caves. Lyrebird was always overlooked. While the mammoth caves were spacious, a cathedral of smooth stones and rolling formations. Lyrebird caves seemed dull in comparison. It gained its name from the characteristic whistling, Caused by wind gently blowing over the slightly angled entrance. It was a vertical cave, which meant most people could not acess the inside without a decent amount of equipment. </p><p>Equipment that five young men seemed to have with them. </p><p>They had pulled up to the area surrounding the cave. All five of them packed into a mud-splattered pickup truck with duffle bags of gear loaded inside. The cave was located a short walk From a nearby driving trail and sat atop a mound of dirt and fallen trees. the rain had just finished, leaving grey skies behind that blocked out the sun. The men parked their car next to the road, leaving it slightly tilted into the shallow pit of filthy rainwater topped with decaying leaves. </p><p>The first one to step out of the car, geared up with boots and a smile, was benji. Benji was the newest spelunker of the five, only starting once his friend Garret had taken up the sport. His equipment was fresh, his hands uncalloused, but his expression oozed excitement. </p><p>Garret was next, clambering out of the passenger's seat and slamming the door behind him with an annoyed grunt. “Piece of shit..”. Garret had graduated a year after benji, he was a snappy businessman and had a knack for convincing people. Like when he convinced his best friend to go spelunking. </p><p>Teigan, Aaron  and Hunter poured out of the back seat. Climbing out of the tilted car in order to avoid the filthy sludge that the car was slowly siding into. Teigan was the oldest of the bunch, a bachelor who split his time between a cabin in brown county and a vacation home in mexico. He had grit, experience, and gusto, his multitude of adventures scrawled on the scuffs in his helmet. Aaron was close to Teigan in experience, but not in skill. No matter how many times they went Aaron always chickened out. This was exacerbated even more by the fact that Aaron almost always went with hunter, a man infamous for his dangerous risk-taking. </p><p>Together the five men gathered their supplies, locked the car, and headed up the slope. The only marker of the caves existence was an old wooden sign with a name scrawled on it. </p><p>“Lyrebird cave. Enter with caution”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Benji</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They didn't see him struggle</p><p>But god did they see him fall</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lyrebird cave was deep, wet, empty. A chasm of ragged rock that seemed screwed from the ground long ago. The sides were smooth with layers of stone and moss. The entrance to the cave seemed almost like a tube, with a long vertical passageway going down into the bowels of the Indiana earth. Benji finished attaching the thick cables to a nearby maple tree, keeping a tight grip as he moved to the ragged entrance of the cave. Toes pressed against the lip of the cave, tilting his body backwards with only the rope keeping him from falling. </p><p>“Ready guys?” Benji asked, tilting his head to the side, teeth biting down on his lip. </p><p>Benji had to ask that. He craved reassurance, despite the fact he got no response. What made him so anxious? Was it the sky, hidden by scraggly trees and rotting foliage. Was it the ground, wet and shiny from the recent rainstorms. Or was it the cave, miles deep with endless caverns, exhaling it’s cold and stale breath, freezing Benji where he stood. </p><p>Or was it the sudden sensation that he was slipping.</p><p>It came suddenly, instantly, as if the rock his black hiking boots clung to suddenly turned to ice. He frantically shuffled to pull himself upwards as he tilted farther and farther back, now at a 90 degree angle against the long cave opening. His face was pointed up at the sky, his boots flat against the slippery rock and soil. He lifted his right foot up, trying to press the grippy material of his boots into a patch of moss wedged in between two rocks, but the moss only slipped away. Benjis right foot slipped, sending it curving into the cave. The rest of benji followed. He lost his grip, the rope fell slack. The man let out a sudden cry of “NO!”, before he started his slow fall into the caves depth</p><p>Nobody had seen him struggle, but god did they see him fall. </p><p>Teigan was the first to notice, turning to his right just as Benjis right foot slipped. He didn't seem to hold out his arm at first, trusting that Benji could right himself. But when his second foot slipped and the rope gave out, Teigans hand of help did not do much. </p><p>Aron let out a pained yell and hunter cursed under his breath. Garret shuffled down a bit in a late attempt to grab him, but by then Benji had fallen beyond the boys grasp. </p><p>His ropes length ended. His face frozen in shock and his hand outstretched, all as he plunged into the throat of the monstrous cave. Swallowed by the darkness. The only sound was a yelp, followed by the clatter of plastic hitting rock. </p><p>Teigan was the first to go down, slowly rappelling down the curved neck of the cave, shifting his glance between his rope and the ground. </p><p>“B-Benji? Please man...fuck…...you hear me?” He shouted into the cave, climbing deeper and deeper into the long grotto. He got no response to his call. </p><p>“How fucking far did he fall?” Teigan looked up, seeing his friends slowly climbing down with him. Aron was almost at the bottom of the chasm by now, soon accompanied by the other men. </p><p>They took turns calling out for their friend. Pacing around the rough bottom of the cave. While the opening and throat of the cave was smooth and slippery, the bottom was rough and littered with puddles of pebbles and water. It was surprisingly large, its size distorted slightly by the downwards tilted floor. Small water skaters and spiders skittered across the seldom dry areas of the cave. A quick flick of Arons flashlight revealed dark tunnels, formed from the dripping water or from a gap in two large stones. Standing in the damp cave, breathing the stale air, with their friend nowhere in sight, the men were left to contemplate the future hours. </p><p>They called out the same name over and over again. No response. They shined their lights into the empty chasms and tried their best to find the forlorn benji. Nothing. Nothing but the sound of dripping water and rubber boots squeaking against the rock. </p><p>“He could have easily slipped” teigan said, almost out of the blue “these passageways look large enough for him to have slid down. It’s a big fall, wouldn't be surprised if he got knocked out”. </p><p>Garret scoffed and furrowed his thin brow “no way in hell would benji have been able to fall down those chasms. No way in hell”.</p><p>Aron was already halfway through one of the passageways, sliding between two large rock formations. “Well if he’s down here we won’t help him by staying up here and talking. We just need to get down here and find Benji”. </p><p>The men looked at eachother, exchanging nervous glances and slight noises of approval. Carefully the four men chose a passageway, waved farewell, and started their descent into the belly of the cave.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Garret</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>with every sloshing step, every damp breath, he wanted to get out of this cave.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Garret's climb was long and flat. A large open isle etched into the body of the cave. Ragged edges, a tall pointed ceiling, and a nearly flat bottom that dipped slightly in the middle. Water had gathered in the dip, alongside a flurry of little brown spiders that he trampled underfoot. It felt almost like a small town church. A church he had seen a million times in his memory but only now was able to touch. </p><p>The caves all felt the same to him. Despite the variation in temperature, size, and wildlife, it was all identical. Teigan told him to embrace the differences of each and every cave. To treat the great dark unknown as an adventure and not a chore. But with every sloshing step, every damp breath, he wanted to get out of this cave. </p><p>He was slowly inching down the slanted bottom of the cave, the triangular alleyway of the cave slowly becoming narrower and narrower until there was only a minuscule gap on the ceiling of the tunnel. A gap barely large enough for him to squeeze through. Garret took a deep breath, clutched onto the slippery rocks, and pulled himself upwards. In his mind Benji could have easily climbed up this pathway. An inexperienced skinny man with his mind clouded by a harsh fall could easily mistake the opening for an exit. He reached up towards the opening, fingers gripped around the surprisingly thin ledge around the opening, and pulled himself upwards. His head slipped into the thin entrance with little resistance, but as he pulled his shoulders upwards he met resistance. Hard rock against his collarbones. Gritty unforgiving stone grinding against his shoulder blades. His head slipped in effortlessly, but pulling his head down seemed a nearly impossible task. All he felt was the cold rock against his neck, grit grinding against his helmet. </p><p>He didn't even need to look up. He knew there was no escape. The hole he was wedged in was not an exit, it was a fruitless hole. </p><p>“Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit”</p><p>His whispers echoed no further than the tiny gap would allow. </p><p>“Hello? Anyone?” </p><p>His words bounced around the small gap, a slight echo being heard from the large area he had first came from. </p><p>“HELP!” </p><p>The recurring percussions stung his ears. His loud screech didint seem to do anything. It seemed to echo even less than his quiet whispers. </p><p>Garret continued to slam his chin into the hard rock. Over and over, pounding his soft fleshy face into the unforgiving stone. It became red and raw, and he could feel the blood sleeping from the scrapes. His skin flaking off of his bruised chin, his blood moistening the rock he was trapped within. No use. A sliver of Garrett's mind wanted him to keep going, to keep pounding his head against the thin stone in hope it would give way. And as he started to consider alternate strategies, that was the one that seemed most likely. Just to keep ramming his raw and bloodied chin into the solid rock. </p><p>He went on and on. Slamming his neck and head into the rock. His arms, which had been strained to the point of giving out, served to hold his bloodied head up just so slightly so his neck wouldint snap. Locked in a bout of insanity, doing the same grueling task over and over without a sliver of success, garret felt almost separated from everything. Alone in the quiet chasm the only audible sounds were his strained breathing and his plastic helmet grinding against the rocky ceiling that pinned him. </p><p>“One last try, come on….” </p><p>Garret mustered the last bit of strength from his fraying muscles. Pulling his body up as far as they could go, then letting his body weight pull him down. </p><p>He felt something sharp. </p><p>Something slicing. </p><p>It took garret a moment to piece together what had happened from the feeling on his back. But he knew exactly what had happened. The slit he had been stuck in was much longer than he thought, and his last resort had wedged his neck between the sharp triangular angle of the opening. An angle sharp enough to cut deep into his skin. </p><p>“Dammit!” </p><p>In a fit of rage his hands slipped, sliding under his head and falling down. The groove shredded the skin around his neck. He felt the detached sections of his sliced skin pressing against the back of his hair, the cold cave water entering his bloodstream and stinging, the gritty rock of the cave pressing against every artery. He opened his mouth to scream but….he couldn't. It felt as if someone had wedged a tennis ball deep into his throat and blocked his airway. He tried to force air into his lungs but all he could do was ghasp . Garret struggled for breath, trying to squeeze his fingers up in order to lessen the pressure, but his arms seemed completely numb. </p><p>Stuck in the small hole, searching for breath. Garret was hopeless. He took in a final gulp of air, and held it.</p>
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